Robot Wars will soon back on TV in the UK, and a very similar battle is heading for the country's seas. The British Royal Navy will be holding a demonstration of unmanned technology off the coast of Scotland this autumn. The machines will compete in their very own version of'robot wars' to demonstrate they could be part of the Navy's future. The Royal Navy will be holding a demonstration of unmanned technology off the coast of Scotland this autumn. The'Unmanned Warior 2016' will feature vehicles that fly along with those that move across the surface, or under water.

They can be traumatic, joyful and sometimes hard to remember but memories play a significant role in who we are and how we think. Now, scientists have developed a technique that not only pinpoints memories in the brain, to reveal what they look like, it can be used to restore thoughts that have been lost. The research additionally shows that patients with Alzheimer's may not have problems encoding memories, and instead the fault lies in retrieving the memory instead. This image reveals what a memory looks like. It depicts a memory engram cell (green) in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) region of a mouse brain with symptoms similar to Alzheimer's disease.

Two astronomy students from the Netherlands have mapped the entire Milky Way Galaxy in dwarf stars for the first time. Their map suggests that there are a total of 58 billion dwarf stars, of which seven per cent have been found in the outer regions of our galaxy. This is the most comprehensive model ever for the distribution of these stars, which are relatively small and shine less brightly. Two astronomy students from the Netherlands have mapped the entire Milky Way Galaxy in dwarf stars for the first time. Their map suggests that there are a total of 58 billion dwarf stars, of which seven per cent have been found in the outer regions of our galaxy.

On cold, dark days it is tempting to imagine shutting yourself away until the warmer weather returns. Many animals do it by entering a state known as torpor, which reduces their bodily functions to a minimum and uses fat stores in their body for energy, but could humans ever hibernate in the same way? Vladyslav Vyazovskiy, associate professor of neuroscience at the University of Oxford has explained what torpor does to the body and how it could affect the human body in an article for The Conversation. An expert has explained what torpor - or the act of shutting the body down during hibernation - does to the body and how it could affect humans. A'therapeutic torpor' could make a manned mission to Mars more feasible.

A team of engineers has built a robot which can fly, land and scuttle up walls, just like a bug. The researchers said the machines could be used in disaster areas where rubble or floodwaters limit suitable landing spots for standard drones, but where there may still be vertical surfaces intact. Engineers at Stanford University have developed Scamp (pictured), a flying robot which can land on walls and climb vertical surfaces using its spindly legs. Called the Stanford Climbing and Aerial Manoeuvring Platform, affectionately shortened to Scamp, the flying robot is just as happy climbing surfaces as it is in the air. It uses two spindly, daddy long legs-style limbs to pull itself up walls and surfaces, and was developed and built at Stanford University's Biomimetics and Dextrous Manipulation Lab.

Google's Boston Dynamics is up for sale - and could be sold to Amazon or Toyota, it has been revealed. The firm is best known for Atlas, its 5 foot 9 humanoid robot, and spot, a four legged'dog robot'. Boston Dynamic has revealed the new wireless version of its humanoid robot in a new video showing it walk, run, and even be pushed over and get up again on its own. According to Boston Dynamics, Atlas is a'high mobility, humanoid robot designed to negotiate outdoor, rough terrain. 'Atlas can walk bipedally leaving the upper limbs free to lift, carry, and manipulate the environment.

Ride-hailing service Uber has sounded out car companies about placing a large order for self-driving cars and may have placed a giant order with Mercedes for 100,000 limousines, it has been claimed. 'They wanted autonomous cars,' a source, who declined to be named, told Reuters. Uber has sounded out car companies about placing a large order for self-driving cars and may have placed a giant order with Mercedes for 100,000 S-Class limousines, it has been claimed. Uber is already testing an early version of its system, which is being developed with Carnegie Mellon University. The firm hopes to develop a self driving taxi to take on autonomous car projects from Google, Apple and others. Loss-making Uber would make drastic savings on its biggest cost -- drivers -- if it were able to incorporate self-driving cars into its fleet.

Digital expertise will become increasingly critical in the insurance sector as digitization and machine learning leads to more highly'automatable' insurance according to management consultants McKinsey & Company. Meanwhile a separate piece of research by Accenture found that insurance companies are accelerating the shift to a radically different distribution model, where they say digital will play an increasingly important role in most interactions, and were agents' efforts are being refocused to add more value. And analysis by research outfit Ovum suggests strong investment in digital channels also. According to Ovum, " When it comes to investment, digital channels remains the top area for insurers. However, the significant majority of insurers will be increasing budgets across a broad range of functional areas with no single activity completely dominating spend. This reflects the complex set of priorities that IT groups are being asked to meet by the wider business, simultaneously addressing revenue growth, operational efficiency and regulatory compliance."

We at Venture Scanner are tracking 957 Artificial Intelligence companies across 13 categories, with a combined funding amount of 4.8 Billion. The 15 visuals below summarize the current state of Artificial Intelligence. Deep Learning/Machine Learning (General): Companies that build computer algorithms that operate based on their learnings from existing data. Examples include predictive data models and software platforms that analyze behavioral data. Deep Learning/Machine Learning (Applications): Companies that utilize computer algorithms that operate based on existing data in vertically specific use cases.

Editor's note: This is the third in a series of articles about the effects of software and automation on the economy. You can read the other stories here and here. The way Hod Lipson describes his Creative Machines Lab captures his ambitions: "We are interested in robots that create and are creative." Lipson, an engineering professor at Cornell University (this July he's moving his lab to Columbia University), is one of the world's leading experts on artificial intelligence and robotics. His research projects provide a peek into the intriguing possibilities of machines and automation, from robots that "evolve" to ones that assemble themselves out of basic building blocks. A few years ago, Lipson demonstrated an algorithm that explained experimental data by formulating new scientific laws, which were consistent with ones known to be true. He had automated scientific discovery. Lipson's vision of the future is one in which machines and software possess abilities that were unthinkable until recently.